silent chicken gone clucking mad!!

[katydidit]

My four girls are about 17 weeks old, and have been the most docile, SILENT chickens that I've ever been around. They almost whispered when they would cluck, and that was only when I would bring in their treats...

That all changed today! I was in my kitchen (a good 100 yards from the coop) and as I'm doing the dishes, I dang near dropped my bowl because of the racket I heard coming from one of the girls! It was the loudest clucking fit I've ever heard.... I ran out to the coop to see if a critter was in there, nope. My once silent black austrolorp was perched on the roof singing her heart out. I then thought...OH MY GOD, IS THIS HER EGG SONG?? Alas, no egg.

What on earth happened to her? She sang for a good 10 minutes- and I'm REALLY hoping that our neighbors (who are, as far as I can tell, oblivious to the fact that we have chickens) dont freak out. Is this normal "coming of age" stuff? Am I destined to have a noisy hen once she starts this?

 

[CapricornFarm]

Are you sure she isn't a he?

 

[katydidit]

I'm almost 100% positive, she was really late to develop her comb, it turned red about a week ago, and it just started getting a pronounced shape to it.

Plus the clucking was kind of a "bock bock bockaaaa" (lol).

I'm new to chickens so i could be way wrong, in which case, I'm in trouble if i do have a roo!

 

[Nonny]

If not egg song, maybe a predator alert? Was there a cat or somethign nearby?

 

[katydidit]

not that I could see... she was on the roof of the coop, and the other girls were scratching around on the ground. She had this "look at me I'm sooooo proud of myself" look to her- thats why I went searching for an egg (bit early still, lol).


What I'm curious about, is that now that I know she's capable of being a loud bird, is this going to be a consistent thing? Or can I rest assure that things might go back to normal?

 

[Pam_x]

Oh no i thought i was the only one with this problem!!!

i have had my two black marans for a month they are 28 weeks old and they have been fine and yesterday morning at 5am i nearly fell out of bed with her 'bock bock bockaaaa sound eeek!!!! and then she did it again 2 hours later (there also was no peditors)....i have neighbours who i'm sure didn't appreciate it...i've always left my coup door open for them to have the run of the garden when they wake up but last night i had to shut them in and leave them in till 8am so it wouldn't be so early to make a noise and at 8:30am she was doing it groan...mine don't lay till the afternoon so it wasn't a egg lay noise!! oh eck i don't think my neighbours will keep quite if she carrys on...

luv
pam x